The Force Redeemed
by casualfreefall18
Summary: Rey and Finn embark on a rescue mission - tasked with bringing a mutinied Ben Solo to General Organa. Will Ben find redemption? And will Rey and Finn find something more? - Following TLJ
1. Chapter 1

Rey watched Finn gently tuck a blanket beneath the girl-rebel's chin. The girl had suffered a blow for the resistance, and there was a pull of tenderness in the air and elements between the two. Rey could feel it buzz in the base of her neck. But it wasn't the same glow she felt for Finn, she knew that distinctly in her heart. That was effervescent, and lived deep-seated in her ribs. No, but there was a tenderness simmering, emanating from his hands to hers, curled under the stiff fabric.

It wasn't long before Finn returned to Rey's side, a bit sheepish. He knew that she knew. It was a silly trail of the Force, so Rey let a chuckle bounce her shoulders forward as Finn seated himself.

"What?" He was jumpy, just like Rey. It made her smile all the more.

"Nothing."

"What?!" He repeated, turning to her with that electric smile, wildly pleading eyes.

"Just … thought more would happen before we saw one another again." She shrugged, taking his hand in hers and looking away to hide her smile.

"Me too, me too." He said in his falsely-easy way. They were both live-wires most of the time. And when they're together she swore the force laughed with them.

Rey allowed for a pause in their rapport,a simple breath that the two took in unison. "What's her name?"

"Hm?" He startled, but for another reason. "Oh, uhm, Rose. She's … she's a technician and a heckuvah pilot, turns out."

"Yeah?" Rey caught his enthusiasm and translated it into her own curiosity.

"Yeah! You should have seen her - she saved me."

"You need quite a bit of saving, don't you?" She wanted to wink at him, but she settled for giving his hand a gentle pinch in her own.

He laughed, his throat a little tight with embarrassment. "I guess I do … But if you don't mind my saying, I like your style better. Less … crashing speeders."

"More staff-whacking. I can see the appeal." Rey nodded, lifted her jaw and glanced at him through the tail of her eye.

"More … rock-lifting."

Although the Falcon was teeming with excitement and relief from the resistance, Rey and Finn enjoyed a dual solitude. The hum of foreign conversation gently ebbed. There was a peace she couldn't deny, that she had felt in his arms at last. Without apprehension, she rested her head on his shoulder beside her, their height nearly matched.

"Do you feel it, too?" She heard him say. His timbre low, warm.

"Yes." Rey nodded. She knows.

"We're home."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a week at the new base. Support was slowly siphoning in from all over the galaxy - new fighters, young and old, find any transport necessary to add their skills to an ever-growing resistance.

Rey had spied Rose through her recovery. She found her to be a soft outward presence, but within herself, sure. And she looked at Finn like Rey looked at the lush Takodana after nineteen long, tiresome years on Jakku.

It felt like a storm cloud had opened a deluge within her ribcage. She knew it was silly, knew that there must be simpler ways to attack the conflict she felt - the tenderness for Rose's goodness, and her own love for Finn.

Love?! Rey's almost choked on her breakfast at the thought. Of course, Love! But not like the love she felt for Han Solo or Luke Skywalker, or her parents, rest their souls. Not a longing for acceptance - that, she already knew she had with Finn. Something rooted in her toes, growing through her body, and blooming in his presence only. As much simultaneously a certainty and a mystery as the Force.

"Ready for yet another day of training?" Finn and Poe scooted next to Rey in the dining commons. The heady heat and aroma of breakfast was still thick in the air, as Rey feverishly mopped the dribbling porridge from her chin.

"M-hmm." Why, now of all times, did she feel the need within herself to be fastidious as she ate? In all of her years she'd eaten hungrily, gobbling up her food with only her stomach in mind. And now she worried about her face?!

"Gosh, what I wouldn't give for a vacation right about now." Poe rolled his eyes, raking his dark-crescent fingernails through his thick hair. "Couldn't the First Order just … I don't know … quit while they're ahead? It's almost Life Day, for goodness' sake. Isn't that a galactically-observed holiday?"

"You give them too much credit." Finn laughed, and Rey grinned to herself at the blue-milk mustache left above his radiant smile.

"How about you, Rey? General Organa picking up where Master Skywalker left off?" Poe directed his eyes at her.

"More-or-less. Strategy has never been my strong suit, but the General is keeping us all informed."

"Not briefings, I mean like… you know …" Poe wiggled his fingers in a weak pantomime, "the Force."

"Oh," Rey laughed with the two of them, "No, no. Jedi training is going to have to wait."

Suddenly, Rey's vision was pulled violently from the dining commons. Within herself was the familiar ache of the Force … the Darkness goading the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck.

They were clear as day, her surroundings. Rather than the comfort of her friends and comrades, she was alone in a grey-lit sleeping cabin. She knew this place, at least vaguely. The only sound was her own blood coursing in the space between her ears.

There was a figure on the bed on the opposite side of the room. From where she was, she knew it to be Ben. It had to be. She advanced tentatively to see his pale, freckled arms and chest rising and falling with sleep. She had only the time to reach out, to begin to admonish him for his poor choice: "You should have joined us! You should have joined me! Of all the potential, yours is the greatest - and the greatest waste." She wanted to scream at his sickeningly placid face. She wanted to slam her fist through him, to beat his pride down to a puddle: "How can you be so strong, and so stupid?!"

He was awake. But he didn't see her. It's an odd miracle, but he didn't see her.

She turned. Behind her, an officer's silhouette marred the doorway, pitch against the cold light of the greater Star Destroyer. The figure brandished a phaser.

She was caught between the two: Ben and the loan mutineer. The phaser blasted, stopped dead in mid-air by Kylo's outstretched hand. He had bolted upright, gathering false strength. She could feel his weariness, although his face remained expressionless. Stupid, and maddening, that the only emotion he allowed of himself is rage.

What happened next was utter chaos. The mutineer was not alone. Blasts pealed in from every direction, sending the room alight in sparks. In no time Ben was disarmed, exhausted, wounded beyond recognition. The lead figure stepped into the light: Hux.

"Dispose of the 'Supreme Leader' on the next desolate planet on course." He sneered. "We don't need his petulance anymore. The First Order will no longer be ruled by an overgrown child. I should have done away with him before we lost more ground to those filthy rebels."

Rey was at war with her own disbelief. "How could you have been defeated? We took on Snoke - we defeated the guards in his throne room! And you give yourself over to Hux? Why?!"

The answer was simple. At last, Ben reached out to her, "I'm tired." He said.

"You're tired?" She was still incredulous, alone with his voice.

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"Are you … alive?"

"Not sure."

"Don't you care?"

"Not anymore."


	3. Chapter 3

Rey awoke with a start in the med bay. She wasn't attached to any monitors, but was surrounded by Finn, Poe, and now Rose, each face etched with worry.

"What happened?" Rey groggily wiped the memory from her eyes.

"One second we were having breakfast, the next you were face-down in your porridge. Finn and I were too shocked to know what to do, so we brought you here." Poe nervously stifled a chuckle.

Immediately self-conscious, Rey moved her hand down from her eye to her mouth, eager to scrub the remaining breakfast from her face.

"Do you remember anything?" Finn queried. She just noticed his arm around her shoulders, gathering warmth in her taut frame. She lifts her face to his, coloring her cheeks with their nearness. "No, no … everything went … black."

Ben awoke too, deflated completely in the wake of the uprising against him. Not long before, he would have lashed out, funnelling all of his hurt and betrayal into unpent rage. It seemed meaningless, now.

He was wrong. He would never admit it to the girl, but he was wrong.

You can't kill the past. You can't sever your paternal bond with a slash of a lightsaber. His father had made that very clear to him. He would never admit that to her, to Rey, either. That he often finds himself lost in nightmares, reliving his transgression, seeing that same ache of betrayal in his father's shocked face.

Every time he looks in a mirror, he sees his father's nose and his mother's soft eyes. Since he began to grow, he's hated them. Hated the bond they shared, the warmth between them. Hated that he couldn't seem to find the same, insipid goodness. Hated that they were, after all, human. That Han would leave on "trading" runs often into his teens, and his mother became more and more invested in diplomacy, addicted to her work. They weren't legends at all, (despite the shared opinion of the entire galaxy) but two simple people, working their best and never quite meeting that lofty potential.

They didn't understand him like he wanted them to. Luke could have, but didn't stoke that need for knowledge quick enough – instead, he shied from it, possessed by fear and tradition.

Human. Snoke had promised him more than that. More than the misgivings of his family and his own youth.

But that was nearly fifteen years ago. And now Snoke was murdered by his own hand as well. Filled with power, but still merely flesh and bone.

Ben picked himself up from the ground where Hux and his officers disposed of him. It's a desert planet in the outer rim. He couldn't say the name, probably never knew it. Sand filled his boots, his pockets, his hair and ears. Try as he might, he couldn't rid himself of the neusance. Gingerly, he removed his shoes and coat, balmy night air filling the cavities under his arms and behind his knees.

I'm nothing, he thinks. They were nothing, and now I'm nothing.

The stars glint above the still-warm sand. A bright streak of a ship would pass and cut the sky along its path, but the rest was silence. Not a single rustle of a breeze. He was beginning to feel claustrophobic.

He shut his eyes, eager to make contact with the girl, Rey, again. An impulsive distress call – she would have nothing to fear, with the First Order divorced from him. He was impotent, directionless.

"Rey."

Darkness, still.

"Rey!" He screams against the wrong done to him, against the bridges he's burnt, the care he's tossed aside. Filled to the brim with loathing for himself, he punches a dent into the sand and struggles against the inward and outward silence.

Another lap, another lap, another lap ... Finn and Poe followed the squadron around the corner of the base for their morning warm-up.

"What do you think of Rey's little spill this morning?" Poe masked his remark to Finn through labored breathing.

"Worries me. She needs rest, I think." Finn returned, his eyes sharp with emotion for Rey.

"Don't we all!"

Before Finn can meet Poe's retort, Chewie called angrily somewhere on the edge of the barracks.

"Furball doesn't seem to think so."

"Furball can mind his own business! Unless, he wants to join us!" Poe, unashamedly hurled the words toward Chewie. The wookie recoiled, feigning hurt feelings.

"You think Rey ..." Finn began, following the brief commotion. He couldn't seem to find the words to finish the question.

"Rey ...?"

"You know ... do you think I have a shot with her?"

"Woah, buddy! Slow down there." Poe pretended not to notice Chewie's calls as he broke formation and took Finn aside. "What do you mean, 'have a shot with her'?"

"She said she didn't have a boyfriend back on Jakku. I just figured -"

"Buddy," Poe repeated, "This is war. You don't have the luxury of waiting around for people to return feelings, and stuff. You've gotta ... just, seize the opportunity. Tell her how you feel, if that's the case."

"You think so?"

"Of course. If there's anything I've learned in the resistance, it's not to waste time. Not to be a downer, but you never know who you'll lose between missions."

"And, Rose?"

"Sure, what about her?"

"Do you think she'll be hurt?"

"Couldn't say."

Finn quieted himself, his nervous energy palpable in his clenching and unclenching fists.

"It's obvious, though, isn't it? I've never met anyone like her! We just ... we share so much."

"Trust me, Finn. I've had my fair share of crushes." Poe jovially patted his friend back into formation beside him, and the two continued their rounds.

Finn fell back. No, it's not that simple, he thought. He can feel Rey in the back of his mind, most days. When she's agitated, he feels that agitation. When he is optimistic, she grasps and shares his optimism. Something beyond them gently reeling them together. Finn smiled at the thought. The two misfits flung together on Jakku. He'd tell her as soon as training was finished.

Rey found herself smiling, and she didn't quite know why. Something broke the stormclouds within her.

She stood in the center of a converted power warehouse, sparring by herself among other rebels engaging in target practice. Staff in-hand, she was glad for the respite from the white-hot lightsaber. Just as she wielded her staff above her head, getting ready to strike the target dummy, she felt a persistent little tap on her shoulder.

Dropping the weapon, she turned to face Rose. Rey couldn't help but receive her warmly, appreciating the cleverness in Rose's eyes.

"What's up?"

"Oh, I, uh -" Rey retreated a bit, sensing Rose's nerves.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to talk with you. About earlier."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be alright."

"I'm not so sure. My mom used to have fainting spells. My sister and I did our best to help her when she needed it. I think her health took a toll from the mining poisoning the air. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Rey sensed that familial bond within Rose, the one she herself craved. The need to care, to be independent and nurturing all at once. She tried not to let too much emotion into the wells of her eyes. "Thank you, Rose."

"Of course." She smiled in return, taking Rey's elbow in her hand, "Just ... let me know, ok?"

Rey nodded. Picking up her staff once more, she noticed that the electricity of sparring has left her arms. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to get some rest.

Once in her quarters, Rey closes her eyes and opens her mind to the Force, attempting to meditate on peace and answers.

Instead she's drawn downward, once again.


	4. Chapter 4

_Where are you?_

She felt him calling her wildly. Faintly.

"What makes you think I'd ever tell you?" She answered, defiantly.

Despite her answer, she sensed a relief between them, tingling behind her ears. It's odd. Once again, she's puzzled by him.

"Where are you?" She returns the query. Something's up, and she's never been one not to indulge her curiosity.

"Outer rim."

"Very descriptive."

"To be honest, I have no idea."

His frankness catches her off her guard. The remark sounded uncannily like one Han would make. Out of the ether, another glimmer of relief, of hope.

"Are you still hurt?"

She waited a moment.

"Like hell." He answered.

"Good." She wanted to say. Keep it simple, let him get his just deserts. Instead, the crack of light between them bloomed. Instead, she pressed on, "You need help."

Further silence. His pride, of course, would impede him. She should have shut him out, again.

"Yes." He answered.

And the light blasted her vision. Behind her eyes she saw nothing but the light, the good. In her waking body, she felt the warmth of a tear trailing down her temple and into her ear.

"I'll find you."

"I know."

The blinding flash of hope woke her up with a start. Panicked, she scanned her quarters. Finn stood at the threshold, arms folded in worry.

"And I thought I had trouble sleep-talking." He attempted to break the mood, she felt. He must have sensed her panic.

"You have no idea." She smirked, although her heaving breath belied her nonchalance.

Finn advanced tentatively. "Who were you dreaming about?"

"I - erm, no-one."

She knew it was useless to lie to him. They'd had their brief moments of deception. They knew what the other looked and sounded like when they were lying.

"Oh, alright. But you'll never believe it." She rolled her eyes, patting the mattress beside her.

He sat, his eyes eager. He could never keep that eagerness at bay.

"Bundle of nerves." Rey laughed to herself as Finn made himself comfortable beside her. "Finn, I was speaking to Kylo Ren."

At once, Finn is on fire. His protection and worry for Rey ignited. "You what?! Are you nuts?! Wait, I know the answer to that, Rey - of course you're nuts! Your curiosity is going to get us all killed!"

She knows his outburst is rooted in their friendship. They'd fought off Ben on Starkiller, each mirroring the other, retreating the erratic slashes of his lightsaber. Each cradling the other, defending the other. He knew the fear she felt for him, and she the same.

"I know, I know." She set her hand atop his on the mattress, attempted to quell his nerves. "I hated it, too, when it first began. I can't control it. He just ... he uses the force to reach out to me. Makes me listen to him. At first, he tried to sway me to the dark side," she chuckled at the ridiculousness time had afforded her, "but then ... Then, I saw the conflict in him. Felt the hurt he feels. He's just a person, like us."

Finn looked at her sidelong. "I've seen the guy, just like you have. He's a monster."

"Maybe not. I think he needs saving."

"Well, the guy can save himself, for all I care." Finn shrugged. But Rey saw past that outward gesture.

"I think I need to save him."

"Rey, you're not going alone. He can tear us apart like wet paper."

"No ... he's hurt. He's been betrayed and left for dead somewhere in the Outer Rim."

"It could be a trap he's set for you."

"I don't think it is." She searched his eyes, still seeing the worry and care for her at the forefront. It was blinding him. "Come with me, and see."

Finn smiled, his damned unexpected, contagious smile. "That's the sanest thing you've said all day."

"I'm going to rescue your son ... I'm going to rescue your son ... I'm - Oh, this is stupid!"

Rey paced like a caged animal in her quarters, gently reciting what she was to tell General Organa. She knew the General's spirit was shrewd and wise, and she feared her disapproval. Every time she was in contact with her, she felt the Force tugging her behind the eyes, saying, "You can't hide a thing from me, young lady." She supposed this is what a mother would truly be like.

Snapping her fingers indignantly, she turned to her doorway. "Enough rehearsal. Finn will help me make my claim. This is it: Ready, set -"

She turned again from the doorway, hand under her cringing lip. Maybe not...

At once, as if summoned by her indecision, Finn bounced into the threshold of her quarters. "You ready to see the General?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You look ... nervous. Fear, I've seen. Determination? Of course. But, I've never seen you nervous."

"Is this ... do you think ... it's a stupid idea?"

"Rey - look at me." Finn leveled his gaze, taking a step closer. "If I know one thing about you, it's that you never do anything out of selfishness. I know what your trying to do will help the resistance. Will help the galaxy. I'm right behind you."

Warmth invaded Rey's chest, a new-found assurance. "Thank you, Finn."

"Well, uh, of course. Of course." He woodenly patted her shoulder, turning from her and secretly grimacing at his lacking finesse. "So, we, uh - are we heading out?"

"Yes, let me get my things ready." Rey slung her new coat over her shoulders and picked up her knapsack (containing Luke's fragmented saber, and some provisions) and hastily grabbed her bedroll. "Really wish I had one of these on Ach-Too."

"You think we'll need one, I'll get mine if -" Finn awkwardly gestured behind himself, perspiration marking his under-arms.

"We can share." Rey shrugged, without thinking.

"Uh ... okay."

Both left the room conflicted, fidgety, unknowing of the other's parallel anxieties. Just what they needed before consulting the General.


	5. Chapter 5

In General Organa's war room, there was an odd hush. Out-dated processors and screens buzzed around them, for once devoid of strategic markings and maps.

"I have felt it too." The General finally turned to reply to Rey's rushed inquiry. "I've felt my son's indecision. Not long ago, I know he tried to spare me when we were fleeing the destroyer." She paused, touched her forehead with the slightest weariness. "And you're certain he has been betrayed by the First Order."

"Yes." Rey nodded with her usual forthrightness. "Yes. Our Force-Bond is still intact, even after Snoke's demise."

"Good. At least someone is keeping an eye on him - he's always been an _ass,_ you know." She gave a Han-like wag of her finger. "Ever since he was just a toddler, he's been stubborn as a wookie."

Rey stifled a smile.

"Alright. But, you can't take the Falcon. It's too recognizable. Instead, take one of the standard commuting ships in the hangar. You'll have to fill up once or twice, but you won't be identified as part of the Resistance."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And another thing - it's got to just be the two of you. No one else knows about this?"

"No, no just us." Finn chimed in from behind Rey's shoulder.

"Good. Keep it that way. I don't think anyone else will be too excited to hear about my son. But - Rey, you know this - he can be our last resort. That is, if he turns away completely from the Dark."

Rey nodded.

"With Solo's, it takes a couple attempts at convincing." The General laughed, knowingly.

Rey interjected weakly, "And, and what should we tell our friends?"

"By all means, have me take care of the questions. Rey, Finn, just remember the mission. Keep your heads about you. Don't let my son turn back. Please."

"Yes, General."

"Be on your way, then. May the Force be with us."


	6. Chapter 6

Ready to burst, Rey and Finn exploded into simultaneous conversation as soon as they hit hyper-space.

 _"Could you imagine we would actually be able to go out - And find Kylo Ren?! - Capture him for the Resistance?! - It's too much! Can you believe it? - Did you see the General's face when -"_

The two, somehow completely understanding the other through the mess of words, trailed into laughter. Rey's sides ached, and she leaned back too far, plopping out of the cockpit and into another fit of giggles.

"Ah! Oh no, let me help you -"

"I'm fine, I'm fine -"

Finn leaned down to help Rey up. Once again, their nearness made each of them rigid. They paused, searching the other's eyes, finding their exact sentiments behind the other's. Stammering, the two were once again interrupted.

 _Bweep, boop boop, bweeeep._

"BB-8?" The two turned in unison toward the corridor behind the cockpit.

 _Bweeeep_

Rather irritated at the faulty identification, R-2 rolled their way.

"What are you doing here?!" Rey stepped back in disbelief. "You're going to give us away as Resistance members."

R-2 would be rolling his eyes if he had any: " _Bup-bup."_ Staccato.

"Fine, just please stay on the ship. And don't tell me we have any other stowaways." Rey found herself doing the old Solo-family-finger-wag.

"I'm afraid it's not within my protocol to be deceiving." C3-PO clambered into the cockpit behind his friend. "The General wanted us aboard as a means of company. And, of course, a direct line to her base in case anyone, might ... meet an untimely fate."

"That's encouraging." Finn quipped, finally rising to his feet.

"Oh, quite so! In case young Solo goes rogue, droids are almost impervious to most bodily harm. No need to worry, we will complete the mission and be back to the General before -"

"Ok, ok that's enough. We get the picture."

"Brilliant. Then you're not unhappy with us."

"Don't test me, droid."

"Oh, dear."

...

C-3PO at the helm, Finn and Rey attempted to rest before reaching the Outer Rim. Finn slept fitfully on his bunk above Rey's, insisting she keep the bedroll to herself. His propriety also forced him to sleep in his day-clothes. Sleeping in his underclothes, as usual, seemed impolite ... seemed _wrong_. He would never want Rey to think ill of him. And he was still kicking himself for not kissing her then-and-there! He tugged the leather jacket Poe had given him, attempted to find some sense of comfort. Tossed and turned, finally facing the wall of the tin-can ship and falling into a light sleep.

Rey wasn't so lucky. With each parsec closer to Ben, she felt the pull of the Force grow stronger. At times, it felt like it was taunting her. At rest, however, the pull was more of a _yank_ \- and she was flung right there on the deserted planet prematurely.

"You're close, aren't you?" Ben said. She saw only his bare back. She hoped he wouldn't turn around again. She didn't want to see him that vulnerable. It made her stomach turn.

"Yes. We're going to rescue you."

"You know I don't need it."

She toyed with several retorts, each curt and biting. Instead, she spoke to him like a peer ... like a friend: "Stop it. Stop. For the love of the galaxy, stop moping. Take your head, take your mind and your power, and the Force, and focus it outside of yourself! Think of your mother. Think of your father. Ben - not everything is about purpose, and destiny, and ruling. Some things are just plain, ordinary, sentimental things. And they deserve your care." She faltered, finding herself rambling. "What I'm trying to say, Ben, is that there is something greater outside of you. It's not you. It's not any one individual."

"Don't you think I know that?"

"No, I don't think you do. At least, not yet."

"Don't you think I know how incapable I am? I've had it drilled into me over and over - when it wasn't my uncle Luke it was Snoke. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not being enough."

"Enough for what, Ben?"

"Enough!" His frustration created ripples in their connection, like a seething mirage.

"But you are enough."

Silence between them. She saw the muscles on his back tense, then release.

"You are. It sounds hollow now. But the galaxy isn't meant to be on one person's shoulders. So, let that go."

"Years of fighting, and you think it's just so easy to give up." He scoffed. "You are like them."

"Who?" She rolled her eyes. "What low-blow is it this time? My parents? Look, I know. I know my parents were nothing, and that you think I'm throwing my potential out into the garbage. I know your opinion of me, Ben. I'm just a filthy scavenger, a -"

"You're - you're not -"

"Sure."

"You're like _them._ Like _my_ parents. Selfless. I was never that way. I resented them for it." He paused. "I don't know why I'm telling you this. I shouldn't. But, you're wrong. I don't have a low opinion of you. I resent you, too."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" She allowed a genuine chuckle to escape her. "I think that's the closest thing to a compliment Ben Solo has ever given anyone!"

And she heard him laugh, too.

And it woke her up.


	7. Chapter 7

Rey made her way groggily to the cockpit, trying to scrub the Force-dream from her eyes.

"We're nearly to the Outer Rim. We'll need to stop for fuel very soon. Jaynus-Nine is the nearest occupied planet." 3PO chirped when he sensed Rey behind him.

"Alright. I'll take the controls from here, 3PO. Make sure you and R-2 are in the back. Don't come forward unless I call, please."

"Yes, of course."

Rey settled behind the controls, readying the ship for landing. Jaynus-Nine's atmosphere was swirling orange and hardly inviting. Still, she saw no First Order vessels, and figured they were free to approach.

Finn arrived behind her as she entered the atmosphere and taxied toward the fueling station marked on their radar. "Do you think we should disguise ourselves?"

She chuckled, "I don't think so. It's a huge galaxy, I don't think every planet will have a bounty on our heads. Do you?"

"Wouldn't put it past Phasma to raise from the dead - again - and hunt us down."

"Look, let's just keep a low profile and we should be fine. Hop out, grab fuel, and hop back in."

"No even, like a pair of glasses? Or, or a really neat hat?"

"You have glasses lying around?"

"No."

Rey shrugged, as if to say "told ya."

"Alright, alright. Ok, we can do this." Finn worked to psych himself up, all the while making Rey more nervous.

"Maybe we should obscure ourselves somewhat. I've got a couple scarves we can wrap ourselves in, like I did on Jakku. And I'll get my staff."

"Ok, ok. We got this." They paused as the ship's controls powered down and the door gave way. "Let's go."

...

Admiral Rath of the First Order paced before General Hux. "Sir, still no word from Ren. He remains undiscovered on OR-fifteen."

"What did I say, Admiral? Without a mask and a laser-sword Ren is useless. He merely used his power for self-aggrandizement. I loathe his hubris."

Rath wanted to scoff at Hux's flowery language. Instead, choosing to keep his position, he continued. "We have reports of an unidentified trade vessel approaching the Outer Rim. They haven't given clearance to any of our guards. Should we pursue an investigation in case they're rebel spies?"

"Rebel spies?!" Hux turned to his subordinate, pink with incredulous laughter. "I don't think there are enough rebels left to even defend their pathetic cause!"

"Sir, with all respect, we should spare no chances."

"Fine. Order one of the local guards to demand identification. If they resist, they should be imprisoned for questioning. Which planet?"

"Jaynus-Nine, sir."

"Very well. Send out the order, Admiral."

Hux turned back to survey the prime view of the galaxy from the helm of the destroyer. He smiled to himself, his cold core filled with the warmth of pride. "This is all too easy."

...

Finn was glad for the scarves Rey provided, when Jaynus-Nine turned out to be a whirling-dervish of hot orange sand. They could hardly find their way to the fueling station not more than fifty paces away.

Rey made quick-talk with the locals, gaining access to the fuel pumps in record time, her long strides carrying her to-and-from with purpose. Finn admired her gait. Staff-in-hand she was just as head-strong as she was when he first laid eyes on her on Jakku. He hardly noticed the helmet-stifled inquiry behind him.

"Identification!" It repeated, landing a harsh shove on his shoulder.

Finn spun around, steadying himself from the Trooper's whack. "What?!"

"I said, give me some identification. If you resist, we have orders to detain you."

"Detain?! I, uh ..."

"Look, do you have identification or not, scum?"

"Let me, uh ... check..." He turned to Rey frantically. Finn was no coward, but he wasn't his best under pressure.

Rey, despite the swirling sand and howling wind, turned from fueling. Masking her panic, she looked the Trooper square on, and with a wave of her hand said, "We need no identification."

"You need no identification."

"You will let us proceed."

"I will let you proceed."

The Trooper vanished into the orange cloud surrounding them, just as the two expelled their held breath.

"I can't believe that worked." Rey let out, in awe.

"Me too."

Almost as suddenly as the Trooper had disappeared, the sandstorm subsided. The scene that surrounded them was almost comically overrun by First Order Troopers and guards, milling through the pit-stop. Finn and Rey's eyes met, their panic re-ignited. Lightning couldn't strike twice.

"Hey! Rebel Scum!" One Trooper pointed their way, blaster primed quickly.

" _Shit!_ " Finn spit out. "You don't think that trick will work on a platoon, do you?"

"I doubt it!"

"You have another one of those staffs?" Finn planted himself, squaring against the onslaught of Troopers.

"No - Grab the pistol from my belt!"

The pistol was secured just above her left thigh. Finn hesitated, not wanting to be improper.

"Just grab it!"

"Alright, alright!" He hastily dislodged the pistol from its trappings, just as Rey swung the staff over her head and into a Trooper's quick block.

 _Psheew-Psheew_ Finn took aim at the advancing Troopers, impairing them before they swung at Rey. The two retreated on their heels toward the commuter ship, keeping the Troopers at bay inch-by-inch.

Rey took a hearty swing at one Trooper's ankles, shifted her weight, and lifted the staff vertically to whack another over the head. She refrained from using the Force, praying that further attention would not be drawn to them. Her strategy was dashed when she saw a Trooper advancing toward Finn, holding his blaster at point-blank range. With a flourish, she transferred her staff from left to right hand, outstretched her left, and seized the Trooper - dangling him in mid-air - before throwing him headlong into a fuel pump.

The commotion from the remaining Troopers seemed to cease. Stunned, a Trooper called, " _It's the Jedi! It's the Jedi!"_

 _"Contact General Hux!"_

"We have to stop them before they send word to their superiors!" Rey screamed to Finn, fully panicked. "Our mission will be a waste if we don't!"

"I'm on it!" Finn returned, using Rey's panic to motivate him to remedy the situation. In full-charge, he snatched up a Trooper's blaster and picked off the remaining Troopers. One final Trooper left, clambering to the communications base at the edge of the fueling station, turned and squared themselves against Finn's pounding advance. Charging their holstered baton, they swung forward, just as Finn had encountered on Takodana. The heft of the baton sent his blaster flying. Instead of reaching helter-skelter for another weapon, he lurched for the Trooper's ankles, tackling him to the ground and loosening the baton from his grasp. The two struggled, Finn at the advantage - until Rey appeared behind him.

Puffing, she managed to breathe, "You. Will. Let. Us. Proceed."

In a strangled voice, the Trooper repeated. " _I will let you proceed._ "

"There is nothing to report here."

 _"There is nothing to report here._ "

Shaken, Finn stood over the final Trooper, smiling crookedly at Rey over his shoulder. "Well, that worked."


	8. Chapter 8

It had been two days without food or water, and Ben was growing impatient of wandering. The only solace was the desert planet's position and rotation allowed for considerably longer nights than days. Although those days had been excruciating, and the already-scarred skin on his back was tanning and peeling.

He had found an abandoned post, settled and abandoned long ago by the Empire. No rations had kept well, but he did find ramshackle-shelter and some decaying coats. No weapons, and no more provisions. Only some straight-razors and combs left over in the small troop bathroom. He shaved dry, wincing through the roughness of the razor. His hair had fallen flat against the nape of his neck, and the sweating tufts behind his ears and on his temples irritated him, so he cut it all off. He left the top just a little longer, but still enjoyed the new coolness his neck and forehead felt without the mop of black hair weighing him down.

He glanced his reflection in the warped mirror and scoffed. Hair decidedly short, a few pounds lighter, and quite a bit darker, he hardly looked himself. The smile was something new entirely. He sort of liked it - accepted the way one side of his lip curled a bit more. Like his father ...

He pushed that thought away. Couldn't bear it. Slammed his fist down on the counter.

Rey's words echoed. They reverberated between his temples.

Let it go. Let it all go.

 _"She's right, you know."_

The voice behind him sent him jumping, startled back into the counter, jamming his elbow against the mirror with a dense _thud - "Arghh!"_

"I didn't mean to startle you, young Solo."

An apparition appeared behind him - Force Ghost - something his uncle Luke had only spoken of in terms of the Light, and the Jedi.

"Wh-who-?" He couldn't get the whole sentence out through his incredulity.

"Your namesake. I'll try not to be too offended that you don't know me." The figure quipped in a clipped, proper voice.

"Ben ... Kenobi?"

"Now, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time ..." Obi Wan chuckled to himself.

"I-I don't understand ... How can you be _here_? Or, am I just going insane from the heat, and the hunger, and ..." Ben trailed, wide-eyed, rubbing the back of his neck trying to work up his intellect.

"You're not going insane, no." Obi Wan reassured, attempting to level his gaze. "If anything, quite the opposite. You're coming back around."

"Oh, sure! Sure! Because I've been abandoned by those on the Dark Side, because I may be toying with the idea of making my own path, my own Order, then that means I'm starting to tread into the Light?! You know, I'm sick of all of this!" Without thinking, he let his fist shatter the glass beside him, reopening the wounds on his knuckles. He didn't allow himself to show the pain, only the frustration.

"That display just shows you're not completely done growing." Obi Wan's tone was still measured and undisturbed. "It took your uncle quite a while to lay aside his personal stressors and transgressions to embrace a greater good. These petty displays are not confined to the Dark side. They are human."

" _Leave!_ "

"I'm afraid I'm not going very far, Ben."

"Just - Leave!" Ben clutched his bleeding hand, fury and fear still gripping him. His fragmented reflection stared back. He was alone.


	9. Chapter 9

A dull ache crept up the nape of Rey's neck. She rubbed her temples and braced the arm rests, tensing her posture.

Finn entered the cockpit, the hum of the ship undercutting the silence. 3PO and R2 were somewhere in the hull, taking cover as the ship drew nearer to the Outer Rim.

"Something the matter?" He sensed the tension, same as she. He knelt beside Rey's chair, considering taking her hand in his, conjuring memories of Jakku. He decided against it with a tremulous little shake of his fist.

"I just ... I sense something."

"Is it ... is it _him_?"

"I think so." Her eyes opened wide, looking up from under her brow. "We're here. Prepare for landing."

Finn seated himself at the controls with First-Order-precision. The planet they orbited was but a bleak desert rock. Seeing that thin atmosphere and lazy orbit, even through all of his twenty years with the First Order he'd never witnessed anything so desolate. His insides crunched together, churning painfully with nerves. Beside him Rey remained taut, her fingers gripping the bridge of her nose as if she could conjure Kylo Ren up to the ship without their docking. Her brows knit - but was it from worry or determination? Usually he could read her emotions as if they were weaved into his own with a thread of commonality. Now, she seemed to have used the Force as an iron curtain.

...

From below, the commuter vessel was a wan yellow light growing silently brighter behind the balmy desert air. Fine sand blew in prickling sheets as the landing gear emerged beneath and gave a satisfying crunch to the ground below. The beam of yellow cut through the blue of night. It was his beacon.

She must be growing stronger. There was no other explanation for how close she landed to his coordinates. He hadn't even attempted to describe his position on the planet. There was no point of reference, _nothing_. Ben hated to admit these things to himself; that she was hungrily and eagerly learning. That she had a potential greater than his own, despite her lineage.

Still, he approached. He was blisteringly aware of his meager appearance. His hair, what was once luxurious and kept, was shaggily chopped to a not-so-neat crop. His dress was tattered. And he dare not think of the smell he'd acquired. He clung, though, to the tenacious fragments of his pride.

She had chided him for that. It nearly made him chuckle. But he saw the bridge descend, the blue light from within the vessel glowing behind her frame. She was alone.

Ben wished he had his saber to ignite in anticipation. To hide his nerves behind the angry crackle of its energy. Instead he stood like an exposed nerve, not knowing who should advance first. The hate within him accumulated, like a boiling froth. He took the initiative then - smooth, long strides. As much and as fast as his tall frame could take him.

Growing nearer, he could see her face emerge from haze. Doubly illuminated, half from the yellow exterior light of the ship, and half from the central blue glow. He saw the balance within and without. He felt her presence on its own precipice. A wire strung too tightly. A chord around his neck.

Finally having reached her, he stopped short. He hadn't anticipated - hadn't thought through his advance. He found himself half a meter away from her pleading eyes. His lip quivered.

 _Silence._

Her breath caught within her throat, hitched somewhere heavy with new tears. "Ben."

His lip quivered again.

Before he could will his mind into moving, she had engulfed him, surrounded him in an embrace. Pure relief and joy emanated through the tight net of anticipation she had built around her. The wire slackened as her grip tightened. She sobbed quietly, sensing the balance manifested between them at last.

"Ben."

He'd never been so confused, so baffled in all his life. His shoulders had raised to about his ears, and his elbows were pulled in to his ribs. With the ebbing of the tension, the satisfaction of the Force, he began to submit. He dropped his shoulders, let his lanky fingers explore her shoulders as gently as he could. As long as he could remember his actions had been sharp, hot, staccato. The transition was swift and clumsy. But he found himself submitting, and creeping into the Light.

...

Finn watched as the monster - the chief head of that Hydra of the First Order advanced on their little ship. "Stupid, _stupid_ idea ... Gosh, why did I ever agree to this?" Frantic, he paced in the aisle behind the landing bridge. _She's going to get herself killed - I can't let her do that - I can't lose her - not again - not ever -_

His anxiety heightened. He ignored any rationality pervading the space between his ears; that soft voice that told him to trust Rey's intuition. To trust their own bond they shared. Instead, he gave his anxiety free-reign. His fingers beat a rapid pulse upon his thigh.

He spied again - that menacing, stupidly tall shadow advancing quickly. Like some sort of a phantom possessed. _I can't watch this -_

Suddenly he couldn't believe his eyes. Through her courage, through her goodness - _and foolishness_ , he thought - Rey launched into an embrace. He'd felt those same arms - that identical call of familial acceptance - on Crait. He had relished in it, and now was baffled at the loss of its exclusivity. Speechless and pale, he backed from the aisle and fell into a chair in the cockpit. Eyes wide and unblinking, the slate of his mind seemed to have been wiped clean. It seemed no one in Rey's presence knew quite what to think.


End file.
